Charioce XVII's war with the gods
Charioce XVII's war with the gods was a conflict between King Charioce XVII and the gods. The war was officially declared by Gabriel at Charioce XVII's insistence. History For many centuries, humans worshiped the gods. Temples were built and prayers were sent to the gods who resided above the humans. In return, the gods granted protection to the humans and offered them rewards for their worship. Each new ruler of Anatae was also blessed by the gods and was expected to serve them directly. When Charioce XVII ascended the throne, he immediately set aside the traditional coronation procedure and crowned himself King. He then declared that humans shall no longer worship the gods and began decimating temples and stealing divine artifacts once belonging to the gods. In his own words, the gods had refused to give him what he wanted so he made the decision to simply "take". The gods themselves were deeply offended by Charioce XVII's actions, which occurred a mere three years after numerous gods had died trying to contain Bahamut. No thanks was ever given despite the gods' sacrifices. Even worse, Charioce XVII formed a special task force specifically for hunting down and slaying gods (as well as demons). This task force gained their power from special green stones which Charioce XVII had stolen. The green stones made it impossible for the gods to fight back and many gods who did not escape soon enough were killed on sight. Ray of Hope The Onyx Task Force soon discovered the existence of their only weakness: a half-angel child named "El", son of former knight Jeanne d'Arc, who had opposed Charioce XVII's actions and was subsequently stripped of her position in the Orleans Knights. El became a major target whom Charioce XVII wished to capture alive or dead before the gods could take him, but Jeanne managed to hide her son away. Two years later, Charioce XVII's hunt for El and the gods continued. El himself was revealed to be living with the renowned Ragged Demon, who Charioce XVII captured and took prisoner, but not before the gods themselves located El and took him back to their land. The loss of El did not worry Charioce, who believed the gods were overconfident now that they had the child. He now intended to simply "kill them all." Pre-Conflict Gabriel was indeed eager to use El's power and hastily ascended El to godhood. However, she chose to negotiate with the humans first and approached Charioce at the arena, asking for the return of what he had stolen from the gods' temples as well as Jeanne d'Arc. Charioce was quick to reject Gabriel's request and insisted she take what she wants by force. The humans present at the arena jeered at the gods and some attempted to harm Gabriel using arrows; Gabriel was protected by Sofiel. With no other alternative, Gabriel agreed to Charioce's decision and officially declared war on the humans. Back in Heaven, army]]El watched the entire conversation and became convinced he needed to fix the humans and restore them on the right path and seek vengeance against the King of Man for imprisoning his mother. Gabriel encouraged these beliefs. As nighttime approached, the gods and royal army gathered their respective forces. News spread throughout Anatae of the coming conflict and many innocent citizens had no choice but to evacuate. Some remained to protest against the King, believing his blasphemy will lead to his defeat. Conflict That night, the gods descended from Heaven, led by Gabriel's ship which El was also on board. Charioce's army consisted of the Onyx Knights, Orleans Knights and the Demon Division.Virgin Soul Episode 12 Charioce initiated the first attack and sent numerous green stone-powered vessels and Onyx Knights forward to assault Gabriel's ship. Gabriel responded by ordering El to activate his power. El did, and Gabriel's ship amplified it, creating a massive range that knocked all of the approaching enemies into the sea. The loss of Charioce's main army allowed the gods outside of the ship to attack. With El activating his power, nothing stood in the way of the gods to defeat the humans. The Demon Division was easily eradicated while some members of the Orleans Knights were forced into hiding. Charioce opt to travel to the labor camp. To the confusion and shock of the prisoners and guards inside, a mysterious, massive object emerged from underneath the labor camp, killing all but five people. To Gabriel's horror, this object was the ancient weapon Dromos. From the moment Gabriel saw Dromos, she desperately tried to convince El and the gods to pull back but her orders fell on deaf ears. El was determined to retrieve his mother as promised while the other gods were confident in their victory. Charioce XVII aimed Dromos at Gabriel's ship and fired a devastating blast. El confidently confronted the blast and tried to deflect it, but the shield he put up gave way to Dromos' attack and the ship was destroyed. Numerous gods inside were killed, Gabriel and Sofiel were visibly injured while El was knocked unconscious. El's absence from the battle enabled the Onyx Knights to fight back and slay the gods. A horrified Gabriel and Jeanne (a survivor of the labor camp) watched as the gods were mercilessly slain until none were left. Aftermath As a toll for using Dromos, Charioce XVII became blind in his left eye. Gabriel and Sofiel returned to Vanaheimr with the unconscious El. Gabriel, enraged by El's disobedience and realizing his heart was no longer with them, imprisoned El in a room. Gabriel would not go to war with Charioce again until she could bring El back to her side. She had hoped El's mother could talk El into listening to the gods again, but El refused to listen to anyone. He was determined to fulfill his duty and without anyone's support, El decided to flee to the surface world. Sofiel and Jeanne attempted to retrieve him but Alessand murdered El before they could. Sofiel and Jeanne returned to Vanaheimr and it was Jeanne who demanded to take action herself. This led to a second war during which the gods were aided by the demons. Trivia * Since Charioce XVII refused to negotiate peacefully with Gabriel and even dared her to use force against him, he is responsible for the entire conflict himself, yet Favaro Leone considers Charioce guiltless. ** Favaro was nearly killed during the war when the labor camp was destroyed, making his support for Charioce sound even more odd. * Charioce XVII once explained to Jeanne that he began attacking the gods because they refused to "give him what he wanted", presumably Dromos.Virgin Soul Episode 10 **It is unknown if he had asked specifically for Dromos. Gabriel makes no mention of knowing why the gods' temples were attacked in the first place, though she always doubted the humans could ever rebuild Dromos. References Navigation Category:Events